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Friday, 20 July 2012

ABUJA PROPERTY TAX AND POLITICAL TERRORISM By Emmanuel Onwubiko

Abuja is passing through the worst
period of her political life since it assumed the status of the Federal Capital
Territory with the movement from Lagos of all major Government offices,
Diplomatic offices and other international bodies in 1992 under the former
military President General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida. Abuja residents are
currently buffeted by several man-made problems brought about by poor political
administration by the Ministry of the Federal Capital Territory even with two
ministers in place namely Senator Bala Mohammed and his minister of state-
Miss. Olajumoke Akinjide, the daughter of the second Republic Federal Attorney
General and Minister of Justice Chief Richard Akinjide,[SAN]. Miss. Akinjide
spends more time in Ibadan, Oyo State playing local politics by distributing
sewing machines and/or small loans to members of her Peoples Democratic Party [PDP]
than doing her task in the nation's capital which explains why the satellite
towns are collapsing by the day. Refuse dumps have all but taken over the area
councils and the elected local authorities are busy moving around major hotels
in Abuja having good times. The minister of Abuja Bala Mohammed is also
engrossed with the local politics of Bauchi State thereby neglecting the bulk
of his functions as the minister in-charge of Abuja.

In the last one year, Abuja has
unfortunately assumed the notorious position as one of the major flashpoints of
occasional terror-related violence and there is no clear cut pro-active
strategy by the Federal Ministers in-charge of the affairs of the Federal
Capital to effectively galvanize the citizenry to check the spread of violence
and terror-related attacks through community policing. The FCT ministry is not
known to be engaged in any enlightenment activities/advocacy programes on
vigilance and need for security consciousness among the residents making use of
the numerous print and electronic media present in Abuja.

Only few weeks back, some persons of
the terror underworld suspected to be members of the Islamic armed insurgents
detonated powerful improvised explosive devices[IEDs] in the ThisDay newspaper
office in Jabi. The terrorists followed it up with two other explosions in Wuse
two near the popular night club by Glo office and also near Barnex plaza although
no life was reportedly lost but the police operatives only arrived some minutes
after the dastardly acts of terrorism had happened. Worst still, days after, no
single arrest has been made by the police but the police commissioner regaled
the residents with the cock- and- bull stories of how the suspected terrorists
threw the explosive devices under the car and another police version said the
bomb was planted on top of a tree. By and large, the kind of security
arrangement we have in Abuja is the same if not even worse than the version
that is replicated virtually everywhere whereby the operatives of the security
community are never proactive and totally deficient in sound intelligence
gathering mechanism to stop terrorists in their tracks before they strike.
There has been no transparent audit of the security infrastructure in Abuja
even when several billions of tax payers fund are reportedly expended in the
procurement of the so-called short circuit cameras and other sophisticated
state of the art security facilities that would have been installed in
strategic parts of the nation's capital.

The opaque nature of award of
defence related contracts which most times fall short of the global best
practices and the provisions enshrined in the Bureau For Public Procurement Act
thereby making it impossible for non-state actors in the organized civil
society community to gain access to information related to the procurement or
otherwise of these vital facilities said to have been purchased by the Federal
Government and the Federal capital Territory administration under the authority
of the Federal minister Bala Mohammed and his counterpart, the minister of
state Miss Olajumoke Akinjide. The National Assembly that lawfully ought to act
as the state Assembly for the administration of the nation's capital has
spectacularly abandoned this constitutional obligation to introduce effective
checks and balances that would ensure that security infrastructure meant for
installment in Abuja and other security flashpoints are actually procured and
installed.

Apart from the formidable presence
in the media of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory for the purposes
of political propaganda, most Abuja residents are completely unaware of any
innovative actions of the current Abuja administrators to up the ante of
developmental process from where the last notable minister of Abuja Malam
Nassir El'Ruffai left it since after the passage of the Chief Olusegun
Obasanjo's administration. We now have an administration in Abuja that is so
colourless, completely unconcerned about the improvement of the social well
being of the residents of the nation's capital through the provision of basic
social amenities to enhance meaningful livelihood. Take for instance, there is
no where within the municipality whereby pedestrian bridges are built for the
use of thousands of civil servants and other Abuja residents during the
transaction of their legitimate economic, social and religious activities
thereby exposing a lot of people to the hazards of being run over by
hit-and-run automobiles especially the commercial vehicle operators who have
indeed killed dozens of pedestrians while they [pedestrians] were attempting to
cross over to the opposite sides of the major Highways in Garki Area three
Junction, Wuye Junction and the Maitama-Mpape Road.

Talking about the issue of high
insecurity and crime rate in Abuja, the administration has not thought it wise
to set up effective security mechanism like the establishment of Neighbourhood
Watch and the strengthening of the community policing project to ensure that
the threats posed by armed hoodlums are brought to minimal level and/or
eradicated. If you doubt my assertion please move around the town from 12 am
till the early morning from say Wuse two to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International
Airport I can bet you that you would not be accosted by any security operatives
to inquire about your movement in these unholy hours of the night and yet we
beat our chest proudly and go about identifying Abuja as the nation's capital
whereby everything works. We are indeed living in denial.

The unfortunate bomb explosions that
shook the nation's foundation like the attacks at the United Nations House and
the Nigeria Police Force Headquarters in Abuja have all but already forgotten
and the political authorities of the nation's capital have not learnt any
lesson on how to keep these dangerous terrorists away from the nation's
capital. The other day, the operatives of the Nigerian Civil Defence that
recently secured the approval of the National Assembly to carry arms and
ammunitions, to reported to have publicly embarked upon the hypocritical prayer
and fasting project to ask God to intercede and save Nigeria from terrorists.
How can the security of the nation's capital and the Country at large be run
only on divine intervention even when several billions are budgeted and
released as security votes? Why is the authority of the Federal Capital
Territory gambling with the lives of the citizens of the Federal Capital
Territory by paying lip service to the all-important issue of security? Why are
the ministers silent on the reason why the security sanctity of Abuja was
violated by armed hoodlums on several counts since last year? Why for instance
has the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria not reprimanded the federal
minister of Abuja for the spectacular failure of security in the nation's
capital which has resulted in the several bomb attacks and other heinous
terror-related attacks that have successfully taken place here? The only places
that receive maximum security protection through manual processes are the
highbrow areas where the elite live, the Five star hotels and selected Federal
Government offices and the State House but the rest of us who are neither
Government top officials or rich enough to pay for five star accommodation can
perish for all that the Government of Abuja under the ministry of Federal
capital Administration cares. Did the President of the Federal Republic not
delegate the responsibility and duty of administering Abuja to the holder of the
office of the minister of the Federal Capital Territory administration? Why was
it reported that the minister allegedly spent over N300 Million to renovate a
Mosque in Bauchi State and the President who told us that he cares about the
effects of corruption and economic crime is not publicly known to have
reprimanded the minister for the alleged abuse of public office or where else
did the minister get the huge cash that he allegedly spent to renovate a Mosque
in his home state of Bauchi and if the story is mere fabrication why has the
Minister of the Federal Capital not deemed it necessary to refute it since even
some amorphous political mushroom groups have reportedly backed him for
allegedly spending this massive amount of cash that even the richest living
black businessman Alhaji Aliko Dangote cannot spend in one fell swoop? What is
Abuja becoming with all the dirts littered around major streets and the entire
place stinks? Do we really have a serving minister who is sincerely committed
to doing what is right and just to run Abuja in a transparent and open manner
without resorting to the use of mushroom groups to attack constructive critics
who brave the odds to point out the missing links in the developmental process
of Abuja?

Now to the new kind of political
terrorism which the ministry of the Federal capital Territory Administration
has introduced with the active connivance of the Senator David Mark-led Senate
whereby Abuja residents would be compelled to cough out more rents because the
landlords will henceforth pay property tax. Can he, the Senate President please
reply to the widespread alegation that his daughter was made one of the high
ranking officers of the current Abuja political administration the moment his
former colleague Senator Bala Mohammed was named a minister after he [David
Mark] alongside the Senators passed the widely acclaimed DOCTRINE OF NECESSITY
which necessitated the emergence of the current head of state as Acting
President in the prolonged absence of the now deceased President Umaru Musa
Yar'adua? If it is true that Senate President's Daughter allegedly benefitted
in the sharing of political spoil of offices by the current minister of the
Federal Capital Territory, is it possible that this may be one of the grounds
that soften the position of the Senate in approving the obnoxious property tax
even when it is on record that the previous sessions of the Senate rejected
this very bill when the previous ministers repeatedly presented it to the upper
chamber of the National Assembly? Is it true that almost all the Senators are
big time landlords in Abuja who owned chain of commercial estates and choice
buildings rented by Government offices and therefore will benefit from the
introduction of the so-called property tax since that would open the dare-devil
avenue for them to review upward the current astronomic house rent regime in
the nation's capital?

This property tax is the worst
political terrorism and banditry which must be discontinued and it is hoped
that President Jonathan would caution his minister of Abuja to desist from
imposing obnoxious tax regimes on the poor inhabitants of the Federal Capital
who are already facing adverse hardship from the satanic demolition exercise
whereby the administration officials of Abuja under the directive of the
minister Bala Mohammed are removing houses of the poorest of the poor in such
places like Mpape, Karimo, Duruimi so that the rich Senators and other members
of the elite can grab these landed assets and erect structures to exploit the poor
further. Why is the administration of the nation's capital not thinking of
social welfare schemes such as building low cost houses to be sold to real poor
persons who dominate the civil service and the informal sector in the nation's
capital but is hurrying to destroy the structures set up by these poor and
neglected citizens of Nigeria? Can organized civil society group publish a list
of property and laded assets belonging to the members of the National Assembly
so that Nigerians can see that the property tax is selfish and self serving?

This property tax that has just been
introduced in Abuja defies all logic because it is targeted at further
impoverishing the poor and if Government complains that it is not getting
enough from taxation what has happened with the valued added tax paid regularly
by consumers on goods and social services? Is Government of the Federal Capital
administration so insensitive that it now wants to impose this added hardship
on the poor without the faintest plan to introduce a scheme that would benefit
the poorest of the poor?

Daniel Goleman in his book on Social
Intelligence wrote that; "Virtually from birth, when babies see or hear
another baby crying in distress, they start crying as though they too are
distressed...."

If even babies can hear the cry of
other babies why is the authority of the Federal Capital administration so
insensitive that it has embarked on the current satanic venture of imposing
property tax on the poor which is similar to introducing political terrorism to
Abuja?

HURIWA'S WORKING VISIT TO ICPC ON THE 27TH MARCH 2013

HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS' ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA; HURIWA, ON DECEMBER 12TH 2012 VISITED THE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY[NEMA] ALHAJI MOHAMMAD SANI-SIDI ON THE CELEBRATION OF WORLD HUMAN RIGHTS DAY TO CONFER ON HIM THE HUMAN RIGHTS PERSON OF THE YEAR 2012 BY THE ORGANIZATION. THE DG PROMISED TO TAKE DISASTER MANAGEMENT LESSONS TO ALL PARTS OF NIGERIA. HURIWA WAS LED BY ITS NATIONAL COORDINATOR COMRADE EMMANUEL ONWUBIKO.